POISONS ACT (CHAPTER 234) Ordinance 39 1970 ED. 1985 1989 1999REVISED of 1938 CAP. 164 REVISED REVISED EDITION EDITION EDITION 21 of 1973 52 of 1975 14 of 1980 S 353/73 S 16/74 S 363/74 S 241/78 S 18/75 S 233/76 S 132/78 S 2/80 S 186/82 S 279/83 S 201/84 S 205/85 S 342/85 S 211/86 21 of 1987 S 40/88 S 82/88 S 16/89 9 of 1999 S 361/89 S 55/90 S 51/91 S 475/91 S 541/91 S 9/93 S 172/93 S 12/94 S 147/94 S 399/94 S 449/94 S 465/94 S 10/95 S 132/95 S 190/95 S 267/95 S 416/95 S 227/96 S 236/96 S 511/97 S 456/98 S 547/98 S 633/98 S 53/99 S 280/99 S 67/2000 4 of 2001 S 239/2001 S 474/2002 S 622/2003 S 190/2004 S 300/2005 22 of 2007 48 of 2007 8 of 2007 S 305/2009 An Act to regulate the importation, possession, manufacture, compounding, storage, transport and sale of poisons. [1st December 1939] Page 1 of 71 Short title 1. This Act may be cited as the Poisons Act. Interpretation 2. In this Act and in any rules made thereunder unless there is something repugnant in the subject or context — "Authority" means the Health Sciences Authority established under the Health Sciences Authority Act 2001; "Chief Executive of the Authority" means the person appointed under section 15 of the Health Sciences Authority Act 2001 to be the Chief Executive of the Authority; "licensed pharmacist" means a pharmacist licensed under this Act; "licensing officer" means a person empowered by section 4 to issue licences for the purposes of this Act; "medical practitioner" means a medical practitioner registered under any written law for the time being in force relating to the registration of medical practitioners and includes a medical officer exempted by that written law from registration thereunder; "pharmacist" means a person who is registered as a pharmacist under the Pharmacists Registration Act 2007 and has in force a valid practising certificate issued under that Act; "poison" means any substance deemed to be a poison within the meaning of this Act; "Poisons List" means the Poisons List in the Schedule; "registered dentist" has the same meaning as in the Dental Registration Act (Cap. 76); "sale by way of wholesale dealing" means sale to a person who buys for the purpose of selling again; "veterinary surgeon" means a person who holds the diploma of membership of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons of England, or the diploma of a British or foreign veterinary institution or examining body approved by the Minister. Description of poisons. 3. —(1) The substances specified in the Poisons List shall be deemed to be poisons within the meaning of this Act. (2) The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette , add to, remove from or reinstate in the Poisons List any substance which he may consider fit and proper. Licensing officers 4. The Chief Executive of the Authority or any officer of the Authority authorised by him in writing may issue licences for the purposes of this Act. Page 2 of 71 General prohibition with respect to importation and sale of poisons 5. No person shall without a licence from a licensing officer import, possess for sale, sell or offer for sale any poison. Prohibitions and regulations with respect to sale of poisons 6. —(1) It shall not be lawful — (a) for any person to sell any poison unless — (i) he is licensed under this Act to sell poisons; (ii) the sale is effected in accordance with the provisions of the licence and with any conditions specified therein; (iii) the sale is effected on the premises specified in the licence; (iv) the sale is effected by or under the personal supervision of the person named in the licence; and (v) the sale is effected by or under the personal supervision of a pharmacist; or (b) for any person to sell any poison by way of wholesale dealing except to a person licensed under this Act to sell that poison. [9/99] (2) It shall not be lawful for a person to sell any poison unless the container of the poison is labelled — (a) with the name of the poison; (b) in the case of a preparation which contains a poison as one of the ingredients thereof, with particulars as to the proportion which the poison contained in the preparation bears to the total ingredients; (c) with the word “Poison” or other prescribed indication of the character of the substance; and (d) with the name of the seller of the poison and the address of the premises on which it was sold. (3) Subject to any rules made under this Act dispensing with or relaxing any of the requirements of this subsection — (a) it shall not be lawful to sell any poison to any person unless that person is known to the seller or to some pharmacist in the employment of the seller at the premises where the sale is effected, or is introduced by some person known to the seller as a person to whom the poison may properly be sold; and (b) the seller of any poison shall not deliver it until — Page 3 of 71 (i) he has made or caused to be made an entry in a book to be kept for that purpose stating the date of the sale, the name and address of the purchaser and of the person, if any, introducing him, the name and quantity of the substance sold and the purpose for which it is stated by the purchaser to be required; and (ii) the purchaser and the person introducing him, if any, have affixed their signatures to that entry. Exemptions in respect of medicines supplied by medical practitioners, etc. 7. —(1) Except as provided in any rules made under this Act, nothing in section 6 shall apply — (a) to a medicine which is supplied by a medical practitioner for the purposes of medical treatment of his own patients; (b) to a medicine which is supplied by a registered dentist for the purposes of dental treatment of his own patients; (c) to a medicine which is supplied by a veterinary surgeon for the purposes of animal treatment; (d) to a medicine which is dispensed by a licensed pharmacist on the premises specified in his licence; or (e) to a poison forming part of the ingredients of a medicine, except a patent or proprietary medicine, which is supplied by a licensed pharmacist on the premises specified in his licence, if the requirements contained in subsections (2), (3) and (4) are satisfied in relation thereto. (2) The medicine shall be distinctly labelled with the name and address of the firm or person by whom it is supplied or dispensed and with a serial or other identification number or mark. (3) On the day on which the medicine is supplied or dispensed or, if that is not reasonably practicable, on the day next following that day, there shall be entered in a book which is kept and used regularly for the purpose of this provision but which need not be used exclusively for that purpose the following particulars: (a) the date on which the medicine was supplied or dispensed and the serial or other identification number or mark relating to the medicine; (b) the ingredients of the medicine or if the medicine is a proprietary medicine, the name of the medicine, and the quantity thereof supplied; (c) if the medicine was dispensed by a licensed pharmacist, the name or initials and, if it is known, the address of the person by whom the prescription was signed, and the name and address of the person to whom, and the date on which, the prescription was given; (d) if the medicine was not so dispensed, the name and address of the person to whom it was supplied. Page 4 of 71 (4) Subsection (3) shall, in the case of a medicine supplied on a prescription on which such medicine had been supplied by the seller on a previous occasion, be deemed to be complied with if the date on which the medicine is supplied and the quantity thereof supplied are entered in the book or in a book kept for the purpose of this subsection on that day or, if that is not reasonably practicable, on the day next following that day, together with a sufficient reference to any entry in the book duly recording the dispensing of the medicine by the seller on the first occasion. (5) In the case of a medicine which is supplied or dispensed by a pharmacist or medical practitioner the medicine must have been compounded by or under the direct and personal supervision of the pharmacist or medical practitioner. Exemptions in respect of poisons sold or exported 8. Except as provided in any rules made under this Act, nothing in section 6 (1) ( a) (v), (2) and (3) shall extend to or affect — (a) the sale of poisons by way of wholesale dealing; (b) the sale of poisons to be exported from Singapore to a place other than Malaysia; (c) the sale of poisons to a medical practitioner, registered dentist or veterinary surgeon for the purposes of his profession; (d) the sale of poisons for use in or in connection with any hospital, dispensary or similar institution approved by an order, whether general or special, of the Chief Executive of the Authority; (e) the sale of poisons for use by a Government department requiring the poison for the purposes of the public service or by any local authority requiring the poison in connection with the exercise by the authority of any statutory powers; (f) the sale of poisons to a person or institution concerned with scientific education or research, if the poison is required for the purpose of education or research; or (g) the sale of poisons by persons licensed under this Act, either by way of wholesale dealing or for use by the purchasers thereof in their trade or business, to a person who requires the poison — (i) for the purpose of his trade or business; or (ii) for the purpose of enabling him to comply with any requirements made by or in pursuance of any written law with respect to the medical treatment of persons employed by that person in any trade or business carried on by him.